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Kevin Seifert, ESPN Staff Writer
EAGAN, Minn. — The Minnesota Vikings are going back to veteran quarterback Nick Mullens for their regular season finale Sunday against the Detroit Lions, coach Kevin O’Connell confirmed Wednesday.
Mullens’ return marks the fifth change O’Connell has implemented since Kirk Cousins tore his right Achilles tendon October 29. He had previously started two games in the interim but was benched two weeks ago after throwing four interceptions to help the Lions clinch the NFC North title. Rookie Jaren Hall replaced him last Sunday but struggled and was benched at halftime of a 33-10 loss to the Green Bay Packers.
In discussing Hall earlier this week, O’Connell said “the execution just wasn’t there” against the Packers but made clear the team has not lost faith in his capacity to develop in future years.
“What we’ve got to go do for the sake of Jaren’s development is pour into him and make sure he knows this is not by any means a period on the end of what we think of Jaren Hall,” O’Connell said.
Mullens was Cousins’ backup throughout the 2022 season and the first five games of 2023 before a back injury sent him to injured reserve on October 11. That made him unavailable to step in for Cousins immediately after the injury. Instead, Hall started the following week and then newly-acquired Josh Dobbs made four starts before Mullens entered the lineup.
Receiver Justin Jefferson praised the team’s quarterbacks Wednesday for jumping in and out of the lineup because, he said, “it’s not an easy role.” He said the Vikings’ offense is “one of the most difficult offenses in the league” and said jumping into it midseason is a tough job.
“You’ve got to know the whole playbook,” Jefferson said. “We have different personnel [groupings] that come into the game, different route schemes and different things that you have to know, and it’s very difficult. It’s even difficult for me just listening to the play call, and I’m only listening for one or two things. For the quarterback to remember, to relay it back to the whole offense and to remember everybody’s route schemes and the play, it’s difficult.”
In two starts and parts of two other games this season, Mullens has completed 67.3 percent of his passes for 910 yards and five touchdowns. But he has thrown a total of six interceptions, had a seventh reversed by penalty and an eighth dropped. He has also fumbled twice, although the Vikings recovered the ball both times.
Speaking to reporters after the first Lions game, Mullens said “I totally understand” why O’Connell benched him.
“To me it’s pretty cut and dry,” he added. “If I turn the ball over, I’m probably not going to be in the game. I feel like I let the team down and that sucks.”